Is There Fungicide in Recycled Gypsum?
Plasterboard manufacturers around globe use small amounts of fungicide in selected specialty products to stop mould forming in wet areas.
Not all wet area products contain fungicides it is only specialty products. For example Siniat’s WaterShield plasterboard is specifically designed for wet areas and includes moisture resistance properties, making it suitable for use in bathrooms, showers, and other areas with high humidity. While it doesn’t contain a specific fungicide additive, its water resistance helps prevent mold and fungal growth, which is the primary concern in wet areas.
Decades ago they used small amounts of mercury, now they use fungicide products like azoxystrobin and strobiliurin fungicides. The fungicides are used to inhibit the growth of mold and mildew on the surface of gypsum boards, enhancing their resistance to moisture and humidity. These additives can be applied directly to the paper facing or like in Australia they are mixed with the gypsum slurry during the manufacturing process.
Given these fungicides are expensive, the products they are added to only account for about 3% of domestic manufacturing volume w/w (see some product names below). Addition rates of the fungicide are roughly 0.001% of the finished dry board weight.
Therefore the recycled gypsum produced by REGYP would have on average around 0.00000003% w/w of fungicide. This is based on the raw materials used to make recycled gypsum are directly related to manufacturers product volumes (or domestic sales volumes).
Example a 38t load of Regyp recycled gypsum may contain ~1mg of fungicide. If this was spread at 2.5t/ha it would equate to 0.012mg/ha.
Some Products with Fungicide:
Shaftwall, Multistop5, Gyprock EC08™ Complete, Gyprock EC08™ Extreme
